1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener structure, and mo re particularly to a fastener that is used for the purpose of affixing various types of labels (such as including tags indicating brand names, material, method of handling and/or price) to objects such as clothing, sundry items, footwear, socks and bags, clothes hangers, display shelves, and product display apparatuses, and to a fastener that is used to bundle together a number of items of clothing or sundry items as one group of products, and to a fastener structure for supplying the above-noted fastener.
2. Background of the Invention
In the past, one means of attaching a label or tag to a product or for bundling a number of products together was the fastener 10 as shown in FIG. 8.
The fastener 10, as shown in FIG. 8, comprises a head part 3, a filament 2 that is connected to the head part 3, and a crossbar 1, which is provided on th e end of the filament 2 opposite from the end that is connected to the head part 3, and which is approximately perpendicular to the filament 2.
As This fastener 10, for example as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of fasteners 10 may be formed on a structure 11 so that they are linked and mutually parallel to one another, after which, for example as shown in FIG. 6, a special fastener attaching apparatus 30, that is, a gun is used to poke and pass the individual fasteners 10 as they are cut away from the above-noted fastener structure 11, thereby attaching them to a prescribed product or object.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, a fastener structure 11 that is provided at the upper surface of the above-noted fastener attaching apparatus 30 is inserted through a supply aperture 32 of a supply part 31 thereof, so that, as shown for example in FIG. 6, a trigger part 16 can be operated, the result being that individual fasteners 10 that are separated away from the fastener structure 11 are inserted into a hollow needle 12, after which they are ejected from an end of the hollow needle that protrudes from the opposite side of a product or object, thereby attaching the fastener 10 to the product or object.
During this process, the filament 2 of the fastener 10 is guided into the product or object via a slit 33 that is provided in the fastener attaching apparatus 30 and a slit 15 that is provide at the side of the hollow needle 12.
In using the above-noted fastener structure 11 and fastener attaching apparatus 30 in the past to attach a fastener 10 to an individual product or object, because of the small number of fasteners 10 which make up the fastener structure 11 and the length of the fastener structure, which was not that great, when performing the operation of attaching the above-noted fastener 10, the operation is performed with the fastener structure 11, as shown by P1 in FIG. 6, standing upright from the upper supply aperture 31 of the fastener attaching apparatus 30, in an approximate perpendicular attitude thereto.
However, to achieve the object of improving the efficiency of the abovedescribed operation, recent years have seen an increase in the number of fasteners 10 that make up the fastener structure 11, which has resulted in a fastener structure 11 of great length.
If the above-noted operation is performed under the above-noted conditions, and if the fastener structure 11 is mounted at the upper supply aperture 31 of the fastener attaching apparatus 30, the operation will be performed with a long section of the fastener structure 11 upright in an approximately perpendicular attitude with respect to the fastener attaching apparatus 30 at the upper supply aperture 31 thereof. The result being that the fastener structure 11 not only flops around, making the above-noted operation difficult, but also in many cases can come into contact with other products or objects, can come into contact with the operator's hand or fingers, and can cause damage to products and injury to the operator, thereby not only lowering product quality, but also reducing the working efficiency if attempts are made in order to prevent such risks as noted above.
For the above-noted reasons, as shown in FIG. 6, a method has been developed to limit the long protrusion of the fastener structure 30 from the top of the fastener attaching apparatus, to provide a stable supply of the fastener structure 11, and to improve work efficiency and to prevent work accidents. This method being one of providing a limiting guide 22 for the fastener structure 11 in the region of the fastener structure supply aperture 31 of the fastener attaching apparatus 30. This limiting guide 22 acts to deform the shape of the feed path of the fastener structure 11, for example so as to curve as indicated by P2 in FIG. 6.
In the past, however, because the fastener structure 11 was designed with the understanding that it would protrude approximately perpendicularly from the fastener attaching apparatus 30, that is, in the direction indicated as P1 in FIG. 6, it was formed so as to be rigid, making it difficult to bend it in the curve indicated as P2 in FIG. 6.
Therefore, if a fastener structure 11 of the past were to be forcibly bent to a curved shape such as indicated as P2 in FIG. 6, because of the excessive load that would be placed on the configuration of the fastener structure, there was the problem of damaging the fastener attaching apparatus 30.
For the above-noted reason, in the past it was only practical to use a short fastener structure 11 or, stated differently, to use a fastener structure 11 that does not have many fasteners 10, which results in reduced efficiency and in increased costs.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fastener structure that overcomes the above-noted drawbacks of the prior art, and one which, even if the length of the fastener structure 11 becomes great, it is possible to use a fastener attaching apparatus of the past to achieve highly safe attachment of the fasteners.
In order to achieve the above-noted object, the present invention has the following basic technical constitution. Specifically, the present invention is a structure that is a collection of a plurality of fasteners, each of which comprises a head part, a filament that is connected to the head part, and a crossbar that is provided on the end of the filament opposite from the end that is connected to the head part, and which is approximately perpendicular to the filament. Each of the fasteners is connected to a common linear support element, via a linking section that is an extension that crosses over the above-noted crossbar in the axial direction of the filament, so that the head parts and the crossbars of each of the fasteners are mutually parallel, a force that bends the above-noted common linear support element along a plane formed by a group of filaments is smaller than a force that bends the fastener structure in another direction.
And more specifically, the fastener structure of the present invention is provided with a plurality of apertures intermittently in the longitudinal direction of the common linear support element.
By adopting the above-described technical constitution, a fastener structure according to the present invention can easily be bent in a direction of the arrangement of the fasteners and, as a result, can be easily manufactured in a long configuration suitable for, and capable of being used with, a specific limiting guide 22, such as that shown in FIG. 6.